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The port of Málaga is routinely affected by short period sea level oscillations whose amplitudes, typically of few cm, can sporadically outweigh the tidal variations. High frequency oscillations in the innermost basins may cause problems of stability of the moored crafts. This motivated the characterization of the resonant behavior of the port and its response to external forcing, which has been carried out by experimental and numerical approaches. The Helmholtz mode of the harbor has been found at ~16.5-min period, in both observed data and numerical experiments. A second mode of period around 6-7min, beyond the temporal resolution of the tide gauge, has been detected only in the numerical results. The typical scenario during the occurrence of harbor oscillations is a low atmospheric pressure (75% of the cases) with noticeable content of high frequency pressure disturbances, a situation that is quite commonly observed during the transit of atmospheric fronts across the Iberian Peninsula. Winds appear to be of secondary influence, even when the oscillations are preferably observed under westerlies. Although results are not conclusive, resonance mechanisms (Proudman and Greenspan resonance) for transferring energy from the atmosphere to the ocean are proposed as the physical process generating the harbor oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Tide gauge records from different ports of the Strait of Gibraltar area show events of short period oscillations (minutes to tens of minutes) that persist for several days although its charactestic duration is of the order of a day. These events are observed throughout the year although, when characterized by variables that account for their amplitude and duration simultaneously, they are biased toward summer months. The frequencies of these oscillations, which accumulate energy within bands centered at 7.5, 12, 19, 25 min−1, are characteristic of each port, with Tarifa showing a more selective tuning than Ceuta or Algeciras. The numerical model developed to investigate these oscillations confirms that they correspond to harbor resonance excited at the mouth of the port by oscillations in the Strait. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We identified Prototheca spp. microalga in ocular samples of a cat in Spain with nontreatable endogenous endophthalmitis. Within 2 years, the eye lesions progressively worsened and neurologic signs appeared, suggesting systemic spread of the infection. On multitarget sequence analysis, the feline pathogen could not be assigned to any known Prototheca species.

We describe the development and psychometric characteristics of a new version of the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Seligman, Abramson, Semmell, & Von Baeyer, 1979)--a version called the Attributional Style Questionnaire for Adolescents (ASQ-A)--using 3 samples (Ns = 547, 438, and 240) of Spanish secondary school students. In Study 1, the initial pool of 87 items was reduced to 54. Study 2 further analyzed the 54 scale items and revealed that the Internality, Stability, and Globality subscale scores had good reliability, good factorial construct validity, and satisfactory associations with maladaptive mood ratings. In Study 3, the regression analyses showed good and specific predictive validities of ASQ-A subscales for the attributions that the adolescents made about a particular real-life stressful situation. Study 4 showed that over an 8-month period the changes in the Stability and Globality subscales depended on the intensity of stressful life events experienced in this period. Overall, the studies revealed that the new ASQ-A served as an appropriate instrument to assess attributional style in adolescents.

Canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME) is a tick-borne disease caused by the rickettsia Ehrlichia canis. Ocular lesions are a common feature of the disease and can be present in all stages. The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the prevalence, type and response to treatment of ocular lesions associated with monocytic ehrlichiosis in 46 affected dogs presented to the Autonomous University of Barcelona-Veterinary Teaching Hospital (UAB-VTH) from January 2000 to December 2002. Dogs were included in the study only if they had a positive serologic test for E. canis and information about the clinical outcome was available. Eighteen breeds were represented, with the German Shepherd dog (n = 6) being the most common. There were 25 intact and three castrated males, and 16 intact and two neutered females. Twenty dogs (43.4%) were between 5 and 10 years old. Seventeen dogs (37% of all cases of monocytic ehrlichiosis diagnosed during the study period) had ocular signs, and 11 dogs (64.7% of the ocular cases) had only ocular lesions without apparent systemic signs. Exudative retinal detachment was the most common ocular manifestation; other prevalent findings included anterior exudative uveitis and optic neuritis. Five of the 17 cases with ocular lesions (29.4%) had ocular bleeding disorders (hyphema or retinal hemorrhages). All the dogs with ocular disease presented with bilateral signs. Dogs with posterior segment disease had titers against E. canis that were > or = 1 : 320, while lower titers were noted in dogs with anterior exudative uveitis. Two dogs presented with chronic autoimmune panuveitis after ehrlichiosis treatment. Canine ehrlichiosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of exudative retinal detachment and anterior uveal inflammatory lesions.

Political, economical and social changes which are continuously occurring in today's society have a decisive influence on health. Of particular importance are those changes related to the aging of the population, morbidity and the prevalence of chronic diseases which create significant health problems which in turn present significant challenges to curative type medicine. Scientific and technological advances permit a higher degree of sophistication for treatments, increasing life expectancy while at the same time posing questions which must be answered.